


A Call Sheet, A Newspaper Clipping, and a Shaky Motive

by spacedogprincess



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28410498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedogprincess/pseuds/spacedogprincess
Summary: Joe Quincy uncovers evidence that points to CJ Cregg as the actual source of the military shuttle leak, and presents his finding to Senior White House counsel Oliver Babish.
Kudos: 6





	A Call Sheet, A Newspaper Clipping, and a Shaky Motive

**Author's Note:**

> This scene takes place in the days following the Season 7 episode _Here Today_.

Joe Quincy found himself, once again, with a folder in his hand and an uncomfortable accusation under his belt.

“He’ll see you now, Mr. Quincy,” Babish’s secretary said. Joe hesitated for a moment, then made his way into Babish’s office, hovering at the door.

Oliver Babish was sitting at his desk poring over dozens of pages of information, his computer softly humming next to him. The CRT screen shone on his face with a pale blue light, contrasted with the yellow of his desk’s reading lamp, giving him the appearance of weary that was only partially an illusion of the lighting.

“Oliver Babish, sir,” Joe Quincy said, pausing at the doorway of Babish’s office. Babish looked up from the report he was working on.

“Joe. I hope you understand today’s a very busy day. Can whatever you have wait?”

He was sure he was right about what he had discovered, but now that he was standing here, his stomach began to turn. But it was his job as white house counsel to provide facts, and that’s what he was going to do.

“No sir it can’t, I’m afraid.”

“What do you have?”

“Sir, I know that Toby just confessed to the leak about the military shuttle.”

“Yes.”

“And you tasked a team of us to do background and opposition research on Toby, and review the facts for the FBI.”

“Have you found something?”

“Sir, I’m not sure how to put this but, after a review of the evidence, I don’t think Mr. Ziegler is the source of the leak.”

“Joe, Mr. Ziegler confessed to the leak himself. We really can’t go about making further accusations.”

“Yes sir, but if you want me to present evidence to corroborate with the FBI into this investigation; I’m sorry, but all my evidence points to another suspect.”

“Okay, Joe. Who’s your suspect?”

“C.J. Cregg.”

Babish sighed, and then cleaned up the papers on his desk and organized them, then leaned back, staring Joe down.

“Sir,” Quincy asked, after a minute of silence from Babish.

“What evidence do you have?”

Joe Quincy bounced into motion, pulling forth several papers from the file he was holding.

“For one, CJ Cregg made fourteen phone calls to Greg Brock in the three days up to the leak, highlighted here on the call sheet. In comparison, Toby Ziegler made none. In addition, witness statements all establish that Ms. Cregg had a reasonable motive for wanting to leak the information about the military shuttle, whereas Mr. Ziegler doesn’t fit the profile. In fact, none of the interviewed witnesses even hint at Toby being a suspect.”

“His brother was an astronaut, Joe. That connection alone makes him a reasonable suspect and is enough to establish a motive based on emotional grounds.”

“Sir, when has Toby ever acted on his emotions in this administration?”

Babish didn’t even have to give a stare before Joe realized the question he asked and rescinded it.

“Did you have any other evidence to share?” Babish asked.

“Sir, the fact still remains that Mr. Ziegler made no calls to Greg Brock or to anyone at the Times in the days leading up to the leak. In fact, most of the calls he made that weren’t in an official capacity were made to his family. It doesn’t add up.”

“As I said, do you have any other evidence other than a call sheet and shaky motive?”

“Yes sir. One more.”

Joe reached into the file and handed a paper clipping of the New York Times article to Babish.

“Sir, the details of the leak, and the situation with the astronauts, all seem to be too much for Toby to have known about. Someone with his security clearance level shouldn’t have had access to the existence of the shuttle at all, let alone specific details about its construction or its capabilities as outlined in the Brock article. In fact the only people who had access to that level of information would be the NASA director, project managers, and a handful of the senior staff, none of which include Ziegler.

“He was neither in the position to make the leak of the information, nor is there any reasonable method for him to have done so.”

Babish picked up all of the evidence that Quincy had assembled, and leafed through it a few times.

“Joe, you realize that even though your evidence is decently strong, it’s still not enough to make a conviction on.”

“Yes sir, I know.”

“And accusing the Chief of Staff is a serious accusation to make.”

“Well sir, accusing top members of this administration seems to be a habit of mine.”

Babish took a moment to break his stoic attitude and chuckled at Quincy’s wit. A moment later, though, he returned to his normal stoicism, and gathered the evidence back into his hands.

“What’s your motive, Joe?” Babish asked, staring Joe down.

“Sir?”

“Coming forth with this evidence, sharing it with me. What’s your motive?”

“The truth, sir,” Joe said.

“You’re a republican, Joe. You’re sure it’s not motivated by a desire to undermine a democratic administration, especially during an election year?”

“No sir. The thought didn’t even cross my mind.”

Babish continued to study Joe’s face for a moment more. Joe felt all of a sudden like he was in school and had gotten called to the principal’s office, but he had neither courage to speak or to flee.

“Joe,” Babish finally said after a good five minutes of silence. “I agree with you.”

“Sir?”

“The following conversation is classified unless I say otherwise, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Until the news broke that Mr. Ziegler had confessed to the leak, Ms. Cregg was the leading suspect in the investigation, for all the reasons you’ve already outlined. The corroborating evidence points to her strongly as the prime suspect.”

“Then sir, why are we letting-”

“Mr. Ziegler confessed, Joe. That’s damning evidence we would have a hard time challenging in court, and without solid evidence to back up an accusation against Ms. Cregg, we can’t act on what we have.”

“So we’re just going to let this lie?”

“We don’t have a choice, Joe. If we came out with a different accusation now, after the President has already fired Toby and after the investigation into his reports has begun, it would simply serve to cause more panic and chaos in the White House, and further weaken the Administration.”

“Especially in an election year,” Quincy said, the understanding beginning to dawn on him.

“The official position of this white house is that Toby Ziegler is the source of the leak to Greg Brock, and as of this moment any evidence that contradicts that particular notion should be filed, for sure, but no accusations or investigations will be conducted on other suspects. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir. Sir, what do you want me to do now?”

“Continue doing what you have been doing: gathering evidence, filing it, adding your comments as white house counsel. But from here on out it’s not in our hands as to what happens. Ziegler’s lawyer is involved, which means now the decision about his guilt, and the consequences, lay squarely in the hands of the congressional committee and the FBI.”

“Yes sir,” Joe said.

Babish returned to looking at the report he had sitting on his desk, and Joe got the message that their conversation was over. He left the file he had gathered on Babish’s desk and left the office, closing the door behind him.

Babish sighed, took the file and placed it on another large stack of discovery he had already gathered. The night was still young, and he still had much work left to do.


End file.
